Nikon D3100 Digital Field Guide Review

Post by TWiP Contributor: Bill Debevc

J Dennis Thomas (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsp_custom_photos/) is a trusted voice on flickr answering questions that photographers have about using their cameras, as well as a darn good photographer. Nikon D3100 Field Guide, published by Wiley Publishing, Inc, is his 11th book.

At first I thought it was going to be another “What this button or setting does.” book. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this is a serious “how to” book about using your Nikon D3100 dSLR camera for photography. In the book Dennis goes in to detail about how he would approach shooting subjects and what settings he would use tackle that task. Not only does he teach you what each setting does in plain English, he talks about basic photography concepts that would apply to any camera. A nice addition to be book is a color checking card, which you can use to make sure that your color correction is correct when you get back home.

The later sections of the book are separated by subjects of photography. These parts are great when you are in the field getting ready to shoot sports for example. Dennis gives you helpful hints, suggests settings and other equipment you should bring with you.

Because the Nikon D3100 is also capable of capturing hi-definition video, this book also talks about how to capture video. He talks about the basics of shooting video using your Nikon D3100. Because Nikon's D3100 does not have many controls for video he talks about the terminology and how you can utilize the few controls you have to capture great videos.

If you are new to photography or new to the D3100 you will find Nikon D3100 Field Guide of value and true it its title, a field guide. Overall it's a great book for learning about you Nikon D3100 and photography.

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